In a remarkably candid new essay, global music superstar Lizzo has detailed the complex emotions behind her recent physical transformation, confessing she grew to resent how her identity was consistently 'overshadowed' by her size.
The Burden of a Body Positive Label
The 37-year-old 'Good As Hell' songstress, long celebrated as a face of the body positivity movement, made her revelations in her debut Substack post. Entitled 'Why is everybody losing weight and what do we do? Sincerely, a person who’s lost weight', the piece explores the difficult dichotomy she faced.
Lizzo confessed to feeling bitter that her public persona became synonymous with her body. 'I was sick and tired of my identity being overshadowed by my fatness', she wrote. 'People could not see my talent as a musician because they were too busy accusing me of making “being fat” my whole personality.'
She described the treatment she received as a confident, plus-sized public figure as 'borderline emotional abuse', a consequence she believes was 'simply because of my weight'. Despite this, she initially leaned into the role, trolling 'obnoxious memes' and being self-aware that she was the 'butt of every fat joke on the Internet'.
An Unintentional Journey Begins
Lizzo's weight loss journey began unintentionally in the autumn of 2023, a period she describes as one of the darkest of her life. Her mental health deteriorated severely as she faced lawsuits from former team members, including back-up dancers and a stylist, which she has denied.
'I was severely depressed', she admitted. 'I had been the subject of vicious scandal, and it felt like the whole world turned its back on me. I became deeply suicidal.' It was from this place of 'self-loathing and self-neglect' that she decided to turn her 'extreme inaction to action'.
Her path to wellness started with Pilates, which she used as a form of physical therapy to 'process my pain through my body'. She specifically sought out Black women instructors, learning that the discipline was co-founded by a Black woman. During this time, she lost some weight, but it was not her primary goal.
A Shift in Mindset and Method
After speaking with therapists, Lizzo had a revelation: her weight had been a 'protective shield' and a 'super hero suit'. This led to a profound shift in her perspective. She now refers to her weight loss not as pounds 'lost' but as pounds 'released', describing the process as 'energetic for me, not vain'.
However, she was clear about her desire for change, linking her physical body to emotional burdens she had carried for years, including the death of her father in 2009 and toxic relationships.
On her practical methods, Lizzo has been transparent. While she credits hard work, discipline, and a shift from a junk-food vegan diet to whole foods, she has also admitted to trying Ozempic and other GLP-1 drugs, stating they work by making you feel full. 'If you can just do that on your own and get mind-over-matter, it's the same', she explained on the Just Trish podcast.
By January of this year, Lizzo proudly announced she had achieved her 'weight release goal', a number she hadn't seen since 2014. Despite public speculation, she has refused to reveal the exact amount of weight lost, expressing annoyance at the numbers people assign to her and emphasising that her journey is about far more than a figure on a scale.
